Winemaking, with no expense spared...

I thought it might interest the more technically minded purple pagers if I passed on, largely without comment, the technical and historical details behind a vertical tasting of the Napa Valley’s Opus One, the prototype joint venture announced in 1979 between Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Ch Mouton-Rothschild and Robert Mondavi when he was at or approaching the peak of his powers.

Because this is such a high-profile, cosseted, no-expense-spared project, in a technically sophisticated environment, there is a superfluity of information about each vintage. (Try getting such...